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194. Funeral Banner of Lady Dai (Xin Zhui). Han Dynasty, China. c. 180 BCE. Painted silk.

Form

Painted in three distinct sections: –Top: Heaven, with the crescent moon at left and the legend of the ten suns at right. —---In the center, two seated officers guard the entrance to the heavenly world –Middle: Earth, with Lady Dai in the center on a white platform about to make her journey to heaven with the walking stick that was found in her tomb —---Mourners and assistants appear by her side–Dragons' bodies are symbolically circled through a bi in a yin and yang exchange –Bottom: the underworld; symbolically low creatures frame the underworld scene; turtles, fish, dragon tails; tomb guardians protect the body

Content

--Lady Dau died in 168 BCE in the Hunan province during the Han Dynasty -the tomb was found with more than 100 objects in 1972 -Yin symbols on the left of the banner; Yang symbols at the right; the center mixes two philosophies; Daoist elements

Function

-The T-shaped silk banner covered the inner coffin which contained the intact body of Lady Dai in a tomb -It was probably carried in a procession to the tomb, and then placed over the body to speed its journey to the afterlife

Additional Information

-Additional